Wrench



w; E. WILLIAMS EAQZAW WRENCH June E8, 1946.

Filed Mafch 15, 1944- Patented June 18, 1946 Willis E. Williams,New'Orleans, La.

Application March 15, 1944, Serial No. -526,536

This invention relates to a wrench-particularly designed to screw acoupling flange onto a shaftworbpipe; or to unscrew-it therefrom; It isareversible wrench of theratchetitype.

Wrenches of this 'type'and :for this purpose are known, butinsofarasapplicant is aware, these are characterized byhaving spring yieldingpawls engageablewith'open ratchet teeth.

Spring...biase:d pawls are diiiicult or unha-ndy t'o'reverse,inasmuchtas'the spring and pawl must either be zseverally:disassociate'd' and replaced in reverse position, or the spring andpawl must be reversed a 'unit, necessitating the provision of anadditional elemen't,;af common reversible carriage-for both :spring :andpawl. Besides, a

spring actuated pawl is readily :clogged with grease and .debris,requiringfrequent cleaning to keep it operative. Open ratchet teeth,too, are subject to becoming obstructed by grease oriother foreignmatter, preventing proper .interdigitation of the pawl therewith, and if.made cheaply, as

of brittle castlmaterial, areliableto breakage.

One of the objectsofthe present invention is to provide a wrench of theclass described, having a reciprocable handle member, and a memberoperated thereby unidirectionally in either direction, having meansengageable with the bolt holes of the flange coupling, one of saidmembers carry ing a pawl which is reversible but unyieldable, d projectslaterally with respect to the plane of rotation of the handle member,and in which the usual ratchet teeth are substituted by a circularseries of peripherally closed apertures in the handle operated member,opening laterally in the face of said member adjacent the pawl, thelatter member normally being spring biased to lie in the path ofmovement of the pawl, and being forced out of the path of said pawlagainst the bias of the spring by camming action against the slope ofthe pawl to permit unidirectional slippage between the pawl and theapertured mem ber.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a plurality of pawlsat uniformly spaced intervals, whereby uniform parallel relativedisplacement between the pawl and ratchet members is secured.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing throughout the several figures of which the samereference characters hav been used to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the wrench, part; of the handle member beingomitted;

2 Claims. (01. s1 9o) v? V Figure 2 is a diametrical cross-section takenalong the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3'isa similar cross-section taken alon the line 3-3 of Figure -1Figure :4 is an axial cross-'section'taken through one of the reversiblepawls alongthe line4 lof Figur 2. I e

Referring now in "detail to the several figures, the numerals l and 2represent, respectively; *a disk or ratchet member .and a handle orEpawl carrying .member, the latter extending 'diamet rically across therear face of the disk I. The disk andhandle member are-pivoted along acommon axis by means of a pin 3, which passes through-aligned aperturesin said members. The pin 3, as shown, has a conical head 4 seated in acountersink in the disk I, and at its rear end A.

it has 'a spring retaining head or knob 5. spring 6 surrounds the pin 3,being confined under compression between the'knob 5 and the rear face ofthe handle member 2. ,Its normal function is to keep the disk I pressedyieldingly toward the handle member 2. A washer 1 between said disk and,handle member minimizes the friction between said members. The disk Ihas a non-adjustable pin 8 projecting from its front face and anadjustable similar pin 9 which may be selectively inserted in any one ofthe radially arranged apertures [0, I0, I0 which are on 0D- posite sidesof the axis of rotation from the nonadjustable pin 8. The pins 8 and 9are adapted to fit into the bolt holes of the coupling flange which itis desired to secure or remove.

The pawls may be, on either of the members I or 2, and the ratchet onthe other member. As here shown, the pawls are carried by the han dlemember and the ratchet by the disk I. The pawls H and I2, as shown, aretwo in number, equally spaced on opposite sides of the axis of rotationof the handle member 2. Each pawl consists of a head l3 having a slopingface It and an abrupt face IS, the latter being perpendicular to theplane of rotation of the handle member. The head I3 is at the inner endof a shank l6 journaled in a bearing aperture in the handle member 2.The opposite end of the pawl consists of a plate I! fixed with respectto the shank l6 and preferably bearing frictionally against the handlemember 2. The plate has a preferably non-round projection l8 adapted tobe engaged by the fingers or by a tool, depending upon the frictionalresistance between the plate I! and handle member, for reversing theposition of the pawl. When in operative position, both pawls will havethe same direction of,

orientation to produce either forward or backward movement of the diskI.

The disk I is provided with a circular series of spaced apertures I9 ofsuch size as to receive the heads of the pawls II and I2. Normally, thespring 6 holds the disk I in the path of movement of said pawls. Whenthe handle is moved in a direction to bring the abrupt faces l of thepawls against the adjacent sides of theapertures H, the disk I isrotated in that direction. When the handle 2 is moved in the oppositedirection,

the sloping faces M of the pawls cam against the I adjacent edges of theopenings l9 and force the disk I away from the handle member 2 againstthe bias of the spring 6, until the disk i is out of the path ofmovement of said pawls, permitting the latter to slide against theadjacent face Another advantage of the subject construction is thatthere are no radially extending open teeth, nor is there any radiallypositioned pawl to become fouled with foreign bodies, or broken byvirtue of their exposed position.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be apreferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it will beunderstood to those skilled in the-art that other arrangements of theparts or modification of the details of construction are within thescope of the appended claims.

of said disk until they enter adjacent apertures.

It is obvious from the above description thatthe pawls are of simpleconstruction, devoid of springs which might clog'with grease or othermatter and render the pawls-inoperative, and that their adjustment fromforward to reverse position is effected with utmost simplicity. It isalso apparent'that the apertures l9 are continuously framed on all foursides by the material of the disk I, so that they are not apt to clogwith grease, and are structurally stronger than the open teeth usuallyemployed, and not subject to breakage. Consequently, the disk I mayreadily be made of brittle material such as castiron, with minimum riskof breakage.

What I claim as my invention is:

a l. A flange wrench comprising a circular flange engaging disk havingdiametrically opposed bolt hole engaging elements projecting from itsouter face and-radially adjustable, a handle member extendingdiametrically across the inner face of said flange engaging disk, a pinat the center of said disk pivotally connecting said disk and handlemember, a circular series 01 holes through said disk coaxial therewithconstituting a ratchet,

reversible pawls journaled at diametrically opp0-' site points and heldagainst axial movement in said handle member movable against the innerface of said handle member and registerable with said series ofv ratchetholes; said pawls having inclined cam faces, said pin extending throughan aperture in said handle member and beyond, a

' spring surrounding the extended portion of said pin, a head on saidpin retaining said springin compression against said handle member,-saidspring having a range of compression movement equal at least to theheight of said pawls whereby when they cam out of said ratchet holessaid disk and handle member are forced apart sufficiently to permitpassage of said pawls therebetween.

2. A flange wrench as claimed in claim 1, said pawls having portions onthe outside of said ham dle member frictionally engaging said handlemember and forming a finger or tool grip.

WILLIS E. WILLIAMS.

